The 3-2-1: Nebraska’s spring game recruiting weekend gets bigger by the day
A lot is going on this week between the Red-White spring game, the recruiting weekend and Frank Solich’s return to Lincoln.
We hit on that and more in this week’s 3-2-1 column with three things we learned, ask two questions, and make one prediction.
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THREE THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEK
1 – The Red-White recruiting weekend continues to get bigger by the day
Nebraska will host eight four-star recruits in the classes of 2024 and 2025 for Saturday’s Red-White spring game, and a total of 12 who currently hold offers from the Big Red.
So much hype was put around the Mar. 25 weekend, but this is on the same level.
NU will get a return visit from Mater Dei (Calif.) offensive tackle Brandon Baker, and his teammate, four-star defensive lineman Aydin Breland will join him. Las Vegas Bishop Gorman four-star 2025 tackle Douglas Utu will also be in Lincoln. On paper, these are three of the best linemen prospects on the entire West Coast.
I think many Husker fans are in a “wait and see” mode about everything, but it’s hard not to be excited about what this recruiting weekend looks like.
Also, when you break down the spring, the Huskers have now hosted 40 players in March and April that currently hold NU offers. Unofficially, that’s the most offered recruits we’ve ever seen come on campus this early in the process. Give Matt Rhule and his recruiting staff a ton of credit for putting this all together. It’s been a heck of a run as they prepare to go back out on the road.
2 – Frank Solich will finally get his proper send-off from Nebraska
We will get a spring game on Saturday that most likely features the top units facing off, but the real story is Frank Solich.
Even the story of Rhule coaching for the first time in Memorial Stadium is probably trumped by Solich’s return.
Just think about this stat: Since Solich’s firing in 2003, Nebraska has only been ranked in the AP top 5 for one week in 20 years. That right there is the fall of Nebraska football in a nutshell.
Before that, NU was a fixture in the top 10 and top 5 for 30 years. I expect to see many former players and coaches back on Saturday. Seeing Solich properly honored in Memorial Stadium will be a great scene.
3 – QB Heinrich Haarberg’s rise may be the surprise of the spring
Many things have come out of this spring, but the biggest surprise is quarterback Heinrich Haarberg’s strong run at the No. 2 QB job.
Last November, Mark Whipple more or less put the writing on the wall Haarberg had no future here. In fact, I’m told the feedback he left for the new staff was he had no future as a quarterback a the Division I level.
Give Rhule credit. Give offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield credit and, most importantly, Haarberg credit. They had a different view of Haarberg after watching practice clips. They sold that plan to Haarberg, and he bought in.
Just think about how far things have come since the first week of spring practice when the media tried to shove the narrative that he should move positions. On Saturday, he’ll likely see snaps with the top offensive units. That’s a good spring story.
TWO QUESTIONS THIS WEEK
1 – How will the roster attrition play out after the spring game?
This is what we know: Nebraska currently is 13 over the NCAA-allowed scholarship limit of 85. At one time, they had 102 players on scholarship. There is a lot of intrigue from educated Husker fans about how this will all play out. This has never happened at NU in the 85-scholarship era because you couldn’t be that far over.
The bigger question is how many players will take the early retirement package and remain at NU as a student on full aid and stipend, and how many will enter the portal? I would not be surprised if you saw it close to 50-50. In all reality, NU needs to have about 15 players move on to allow room for transfer additions.
2 – What position group do you see the most attrition at?
How will Nebraska’s attrition play out?
The position groups I zoom in on are linebacker, cornerback and safety. When you talk about shedding numbers, those are the ones that have quite a few players over what you would call regular numbers. On offense, you could see movement at quarterback, running back and wide receiver.
The bottom line is when you are talking around 15 players, it will come from all over the roster.
ONE PREDICTION: Nebraska’s Millard North drought will end soon
2025 Millard North athlete Caden VerMaas may have already tipped his hand here. He’s been high on the Huskers since he got his offer last fall. Rhule is also high on him.
That said, I predict Nebraska’s Millard North drought that goes back to 2008 (Sean Fisher) will end tomorrow. VerMaas will be a Husker.
Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Tuesday’s at 7 pm.
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